The present invention relates generally to tubular graft devices and methods of making such devices. In particular, the present invention provides tubular graft devices comprising a tubular member and a restrictive fiber matrix about a circumference of the tubular tissue.
Coronary artery disease, leading to myocardial infarction and ischemia, is currently the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current treatment alternatives consist of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, stenting, and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). CABG can be carried out using either arterial or venous conduits and is the most effective and most widely used treatment to combat coronary arterial stenosis, with nearly 500,000 procedures being performed annually. In addition there are approximately 80,000 lower extremity bypass surgeries performed annually. The venous conduit used for bypass procedures is most frequently the autogenous saphenous vein and remains the graft of choice for 95% of surgeons performing these bypass procedures. According to the American Heart Association, in 2004 there were 427,000 bypass procedures performed in 249,000 patients. The long term outcome of these procedures is limited due to occlusion of the graft vessel or anastomotic site as a result of intimal hyperplasia (1H), which can occur over a timeframe of months to years.
Development of successful small diameter synthetic or tissue engineered vascular grafts has yet to be accomplished and use of arterial grafts (internal mammary, radial, or gastroepiploic arteries, for example) is limited by the short size, small diameter and availability of these vessels. Despite their wide use, failure of arterial vein grafts (AVGs) remains a major problem: 12% to 27% of AVGs become occluded in the first year with a subsequent annual occlusive rate of 2% to 4%. Patients with failed AVGs will die or require re-operation.
IH accounts for 20% to 40% of all AVG failures within the first 5 years. Several studies have determined that IH develops, to some extent, in all mature AVGs and this is regarded by many as an unavoidable response of the vein to grafting. IH is characterized by phenotypic modulation, followed by de-adhesion and migration of medial and adventitial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and myofibroblasts into the intima where they proliferate. In many cases, this response can lead to stenosis and diminished blood flow through the graft. It is thought that IH may be initiated by the abrupt exposure of the veins to the dynamic mechanical environment of the arterial circulation.
Vein segments transposed to the arterial circulation for use as bypass grafts are exposed to increased blood flow and intraluminal pressure (Porter K E, Nydahl S, Dunlop P, Varty K, Thrush A J, and London N J. The development of an in vitro flow model of human saphenous vein graft intimal hyperplasia. Cardiovasc Res. 1996; 31(4): 607-14), and cyclic wall motion (including bending, twisting and stretching) due to their attachment to the beating heart in the case of CABGs (Vorp D A, Severyn D A, Steed D L, and Webster M W. A device for the application of cyclic twist and extension on perfused vascular segments. Am J. Physiol. 1996; 270(2 Pt 2): H787-95). Since veins are much thinner walled and more fragile than arteries, they experience significantly greater stresses in the arterial circuit than those to which they are accustomed in the venous circuit. Indeed, Liu and Fung showed that the average circumferential wall stress (CWS) in an AVG immediately upon reestablishing arterial flow could be 140-fold that in a vein under normal circumstances (Fuchs J C, Mitchener J S, and Hagen P O. Postoperative changes in autologous vein grafts. Ann Surg. 1978; 188(1): 1-15). This dramatic increase in CWS is due to the AVG being distended to its maximum diameter under arterial pressure. The tissue responds to this perceived injury by thickening, which is thought to be an attempt to return the stress to venous levels. However, this response is uncontrolled and can over-compensate, leading to stenosis instead of the desired thickening or “arterialization” of the vein segment.
It has been suggested that the hyperplastic response by AVGs is a direct result of a “cellular shock” that occurs as a result of their abrupt exposure to the arterial biomechanical environment (Angelini G D, et al. Distention promotes platelet and leukocyte adhesion and reduces short-term patency in pig arteriovenous bypass grafts. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1990; 99(3): 433-9; Campbell P A, et al. Vein grafts for arterial repair: Their success and reasons for failure. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1981; 63(4): 257-60; Campeau L L J, et al. Natural history of saphenous vein aortocoronary bypass grafts. Mod Concepts Cardiovasc Dis. 1984; 53: 59-63; Fuchs J C, Mitchener J S, and Hagen P O. Postoperative changes in autologous vein grafts. Ann Surg. 1978; 188(1): 1-15; Huynh T T, et al. Alterations in wall tension and shear stress modulate tyrosine kinase signaling and wall remodeling in experimental vein grafts. J Vasc Surg. 1999; 29(2): 334-44; Liu S Q et al. Changes in the organization of the smooth muscle cells in rat vein grafts. Ann Biomed Eng. 1998; 26(1): 86-95; Ramos J R, et al. Histologic fate and endothelial changes of distended and nondistended vein grafts. Ann Surg. 1976; 183(3): 205-28; Resnick N and Gimbrone M A. Hemodynamic forces are complex regulators of endothelial gene expression. The Faseb J. 1995; 9(10): 874-82; Sumpio B. Hemodynamic forces and vascular cell biology. Austin: R. G. Landes Company. 1993; Szilagyi D E, et al. Biologic fate of autogenous vein implants as arterial substitutes: Clinical, angiographic and histopathologic observations in femoro-popliteal operations for atherosclerosis. Ann Surg. 1973; 178(3): 232-46; and Zwolak R M, et al. Kinetics of vein graft hyperplasia: Association with tangential stress. Journal of Vascular Surgery: Official Publication, the Society For Vascular Surgery [and] International Society For Cardiovascular Surgery, North American Chapter. 1987; 5(1): 126-36). Preventing acute distension of AVGs by adding an external structural support (or sheath) has seemingly improved the patency of vein grafts (Huynh T T, et al. J Vasc Surg. 1999; 29(2): 334-44; Cabrera Fischer E I, et al. Reduced elastic mismatch achieved by interposing vein cuff in expanded polytetrafluoroethylene femoral bypass decreases intimal hyperplasia. Artif Organs. 2005; 29(2): 122-30; Ducasse E, et al. Interposition vein cuff and intimal hyperplasia: An experimental study. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2004; 27(6): 617-21; Huynh T T, et al. External support modulates g protein expression and receptor coupling in experimental vein grafts. Surgery. 1999; 126(2): 127-34; Jeremy J Y, et al. A bioabsorbable (polyglactin), nonrestrictive, external sheath inhibits porcine saphenous vein graft thickening. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2004; 127(6): 1766-72; Karayannacos P E, et al. Late failure in vein grafts: Mediating factors in subendothelial fibromuscular hyperplasia. Ann Surg. 1978; 187(2): 183-8; Kohler T R, et al. The effect of rigid external support on vein graft adaptation to the arterial circulation. J Vasc Surg. 1989; 9(2): 277-85; Liu S Q, et al. Partial prevention of monocyte and granulocyte activation in experimental vein grafts by using a biomechanical engineering approach. J. Biomech. 1999; 32(11): 1165-75; Liu S Q, et al. A possible role of initial cell death due to mechanical stretch in the regulation of subsequent cell proliferation in experimental vein grafts. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2002; 1(1): 17-27; Mehta D, et al. External stenting reduces long-term medial and neointimal thickening and platelet derived growth factor expression in a pig model of arteriovenous bypass grafting. Nat. Med. 1998; 4(2): 235-9; Parsonnet V, et al. New stent for support of veins in arterial grafts. Arch Surg. 1963; 87: 696-702; Vijayan V, et al. Long-term reduction of medial and intimal thickening in porcine saphenous vein grafts with a polyglactin biodegradable external sheath. J Vasc Surg. 2004; 40(5): 1011-9; and Vijayan V, et al. External supports and the prevention of neointima formation in vein grafts. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2002; 24(1): 13-22). However, due to one or more fundamental limitations, these previous approaches have not resulted in a clinically viable means for improving AVG patency. All of these previous approaches utilized adventitially placed wraps/sheaths that were biodurable, and/or loose-fitting.
The Role of Biomechanics in the Development of Intimal Hyperplasia
IH is defined by an increase in the thickness of the inner layer of a blood vessel, typically as a result of an increased number and/or size of cells in the intima, followed by deposition of massive amounts of ECM by these cells. The cells contributing to this response are predominantly SMCs of medial and adventitial origin. IH occurs both physiologically during development as in the closure of the ductus arteriosus, and pathologically as a result of vascular injury. It is thought that AVG IH may be initiated by the abrupt exposure of the veins to the dynamic mechanical environment of the arterial circulation (Dobrin P B, Littooy F N, and Endean E D. Mechanical factors predisposing to intimal hyperplasia and medial thickening in autogenous vein grafts. Surgery. 1989; 105(3): 393-400). However, while increased levels of CWS has been shown to promote IH formation (Huynh T T, Davies M G, Trovato M J, Svendsen E, and Hagen P O. Alterations in wall tension and shear stress modulate tyrosine kinase signaling and wall remodeling in experimental vein grafts. J Vasc Surg. 1999; 29(2): 334-44 and Gusic R J, Myung R, Petko M, Gaynor J W, and Gooch K J. Shear stress and pressure modulate saphenous vein remodeling ex vivo. J. Biomech. 2005; 38(9): 1760-9), increased levels of shear stress tend to modulate it (Huynh T T, Davies M G, Trovato M J, Svendsen E, and Hagen P O. Alterations in wall tension and shear stress modulate tyrosine kinase signaling and wall remodeling in experimental vein grafts. J Vasc Surg. 1999; 29(2): 334-44; Gusic R J, Myung R, Petko M, Gaynor J W, and Gooch K J. Shear stress and pressure modulate saphenous vein remodeling ex vivo. J. Biomech. 2005; 38(9): 1760-9; Goldman J, Zhong L, and Liu S Q. Negative regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell migration by blood shear stress. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006; Jiang Z, Berceli S A, Pfahnl C L, Wu L, Goldman D, Tao M, Kagayama M, Matsukawa A, and Ozaki C K. Wall shear modulation of cytokines in early vein grafts. J Vasc Surg. 2004; 40(2): 345-50; Jiang Z, Wu L, Miller B L, Goldman D R, Fernandez C M, Abouhamze Z S, Ozaki C K, and Berceli S A. A novel vein graft model: Adaptation to differential flow environments. American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2004; 286(1): H240-5; and Morinaga K, Okadome K, Kuroki M, Miyazaki T, Muto Y, and Inokuchi K. Effect of wall shear stress on intimal thickening of arterially transplanted autogenous veins in dogs. J Vasc Surg. 1985; 2(3): 430-3). These two biomechanical factors, seemingly causing opposing hyperplastic responses by AVGs, were carefully explored by Dobrin et al., who showed that the increased circumferential stretch plays a more significant role in promoting intimal thickening than the increased shear stress does in preventing it (Dobrin P B, Littooy F N, and Endean E D. Mechanical factors predisposing to intimal hyperplasia and medial thickening in autogenous vein grafts. Surgery. 1989; 105(3): 393-400). In another study that motivates this work, Zwolak et al. suggested a regulatory role for biomechanical wall stress in the arterialization of AVGs (Zwolak R M, Adams M C, and Clowes A W. Kinetics of vein graft hyperplasia: Association with tangential stress. Journal of Vascular Surgery: Official Publication, the Society For Vascular Surgery [and] International Society For Cardiovascular Surgery, North American Chapter. 1987; 5(1): 126-36). Jiang et al. demonstrated that increased wall shear stress, in the absence of an increase in wall tension, reduced the hyperplastic response in AVGs (Jiang Z, Wu L, Miller B L, Goldman D R, Fernandez C M, Abouhamze Z S, Ozaki C K, and Berceli S A. A novel vein graft model: Adaptation to differential flow environments. American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2004; 286(1): H240-5). The in vivo work by Liu et al. has shown that by reducing the level of CWS in AVGs, via placement of a permanent polytetrafluoroethylene sheath, the hyperplastic response can be reduced (Cabrera Fischer E I, Bia Santana D, Cassanello G L, Zocalo Y, Crawford E V, Casas R F, and Armentano R L. Reduced elastic mismatch achieved by interposing vein cuff in expanded polytetrafluoroethylene femoral bypass decreases intimal hyperplasia. Artif Organs. 2005; 29(2): 122-30; Liu S Q, Moore M M, Glucksberg M R, Mockros L F, Grotberg J B, and Mok A P. Partial prevention of monocyte and granulocyte activation in experimental vein grafts by using a biomechanical engineering approach. J. Biomech. 1999; 32(11): 1165-75; and Liu S Q, Ruan Y Y, Tang D, Li Y C, Goldman J, and Thong L. A possible role of initial cell death due to mechanical stretch in the regulation of subsequent cell proliferation in experimental vein grafts. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2002; 1(1): 17-27). It is clear from these previous studies that the biomechanical environment of an AVG plays a significant role in the development of IH. In particular, the CWS appears to regulate the formation of IH, and controlling this was the focus of the approach described in this study.
Molecular and Cellular Processes Associated with Intimal Hyperplasia
Once injury is perceived by a vein, the hyperplastic response is set into motion and can be described by five distinct but interrelated cell processes: 1) Phenotypic modulation of adventitial and medial SMCs from a contractile and quiescent state with low proliferative potential to a synthetic state with high proliferative potential; 2) De-adhesion of SMCs or alteration of focal adhesions with other cells and the ECM; 3) Migration of SMCs from the outer layers through the basement membrane to the intima, which requires selective reassembling of focal adhesions that allow the cell to “walk” along the ECM; 4) Proliferation; and 5) Remodeling of the tissue, reflecting the changes in ECM composition caused by the synthetic SMCs secreting collagen, elastin, fibronectin, etc., as well as matrix degrading enzymes such as the various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In order to inhibit the initiating events of AVG IH, it is probable that one must take into account each of these five processes. A schematic depicting the chain of events associated with IH is shown in FIG. 1.
Phenotypic Modulation
Modulation of SMC phenotype is a prominent feature in the pathogenesis of IH. Plaques abundant with modified SMCs have been found in the intima as early as the second week after grafting. Fully differentiated adult SMCs demonstrate low turnover as demonstrated by low proliferation and apoptosis rates. However, 48 hours after arterial injury, 15-40% of SMCs are mitotic. This abrupt shift in functionality is related to the fact that SMCs can exist in a spectrum of phenotypes, spanning from fully synthetic to fully contractile. Synthetic SMCs respond to regulatory signals and cytokines, and are capable of ECM turnover as well as growth factor production. On the other hand, contractile SMCs respond to vasomotor signals and control vessel tone. AVGs exhibit neointimal formation within the first two months by the migration and proliferation of synthetic SMCs and by subsequent, sustained ECM accumulation, including type I collagen production, in the prolonged presence of the de-differentiated type SMCs.
The phenotypic state of SMCs is regulated at least in part by mechanical forces, as demonstrated by the observation that cyclic stretch induces a substrate-dependent modulation of proliferation and h-caldesmon expression in vitro. In vivo studies have also shown the importance of mechanical injury on the phenotype of SMCs. Balloon inflation injury to the media was shown to promote ECM synthesis by SMCs as well as to decrease alpha actin content. Several reports have shown that neointimal SMCs of veins transposed to the arterial circulation are phenotypically altered, supporting the notion that the change from the venous to the arterial environment triggers phenotypic alteration. Further evidence comes from ex vivo organ culture studies where, for example, cyclic stretch was found to be necessary to maintain the contractile function of SMCs in cultured rat portal veins. Goldman et al. exposed rat vena cava to arterial pressures (Goldman J, Zhong L, and Liu S Q. Degradation of alpha-actin filaments in venous smooth muscle cells in response to mechanical stretch. American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2003; 284(5): H1839-47), which led to a large increase in medial circumferential strain and a concomitant reduction in the SMC filamentous actin coverage. Clearly, the changes in the mechanical environment related to vein grafting can lead to phenotypic alterations of the mural SMCs, possibly contributing to the development of IH.
Indicators of a synthetic phenotype include the presence of increased quantities of Golgi complex and rough endoplasmic reticulum, and decreased quantities of filamentous actin. A contractile phenotype is demonstrated by the presence of an intact contractile apparatus indicated by the expression of contractile proteins such as smoothelin, h-caldesmon, smooth muscle myosin heavy chain, and large quantities of filamentous actin.
De-Adhesion and Migration
Cellular de-adhesion is one of the earliest responses in the IH cascade. This process refers to an alteration in a cell's adhesion to the ECM from a state of strong adherence, with focal adhesions and stress fibers, to a state of weaker adherence, characterized by a restructuring of focal adhesions and stress fibers while maintaining a spread cell shape. SMC de-adhesion will of course allow SMC migration and proliferation which will contribute to neointima formation.
While there are many important proteins involved in the regulation of cellular adhesion, we focused our attention on matricellular proteins, which function as adaptors and modulators of cell matrix interactions (Bornstein P. Diversity of function is inherent in matricellular proteins: An appraisal of thrombospondin 1. J. Cell Biol. 1995; 130(3): 503-6 and Sage E H and Bornstein P. Extracellular proteins that modulate cell-matrix interactions. Sparc, tenascin, and thrombospondin. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 1991; 266(23): 14831-4), and intracellular adhesion proteins, which have been shown to localize to cellular focal adhesion sites (Nikolopoulos S N and Turner C E. Integrin-linked kinase (ilk) binding to paxillin 1d1 motif regulates ilk localization to focal adhesions. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2001; 276(26): 23499-505 and Tu Y, Wu S, Shi X, Chen K, and Wu C. Migfilin and mig-2 link focal adhesions to filamin and the actin cytoskeleton and function in cell shape modulation. Cell. 2003; 113: 37-47). Tenascin C (TN-C), thrombospondin 1,2 (TSP), and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) are matricellular proteins that exhibit highly regulated expression during development and cellular injury (Murphy_Ullrich J E. The de-adhesive activity of matricellular proteins: Is intermediate cell adhesion an adaptive state? J Clin Invest. 2001; 107(7): 785-90). Mitogen inducible gene 2 (Mig-2) and integrin linked kinase (ILK) are intracellular proteins involved in cellular shape modulation (Nikolopoulos S N and Turner C E. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) binding to paxillin 1d1 motif regulates ilk localization to focal adhesions. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2001; 276(26): 23499-505 and Tu Y, Wu S, Shi X, Chen K, and Wu C. Migfilin and Mig-2 link focal adhesions to filamin and the actin cytoskeleton and function in cell shape modulation. Cell. 2003; 113: 37-47) and integrin mediated signal transduction (Wu C and Dedhar S. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) and its interactors: A new paradigm for the coupling of extracellular matrix to actin cytoskeleton and signaling complexes. J. Cell Biol. 2001; 155(4): 505-10), respectively. The actions of TN-C, TSP, and SPARC on the cytoskeleton and focal adhesions are basically indistinguishable (Greenwood J A, Theibert A B, Prestwich G D, and Murphy_Ullrich J E. Restructuring of focal adhesion plaques by pi 3-kinase. Regulation by ptdins (3,4,5)-p(3) binding to alpha-actinin. J. Cell Biol. 2000; 150(3): 627-42 and Murphy-Ullrich J E, Lightner V A, Aukhil I, Yan Y Z, Erickson H P, and Hook M. Focal adhesion integrity is downregulated by the alternatively spliced domain of human tenascin. J. Cell Biol. 1991; 115(4): 1127-36). However, these three proteins each have unique receptors and have similar but separate signaling pathways to produce a state of intermediate adhesion, which is a precursor to cell migration (Murphy-Ullrich J E. The de-adhesive activity of matricellular proteins: Is intermediate cell adhesion an adaptive state? J Clin Invest. 2001; 107(7): 785-90). Mig-2 and ILK have also been implicated in cellular adhesion (Nikolopoulos S N and Turner C E. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) binding to paxillin 1d1 motif regulates ilk localization to focal adhesions. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2001; 276(26): 23499-505 and Tu Y, Wu S, Shi X, Chen K, and Wu C. Migfilin and Mig-2 link focal adhesions to filamin and the actin cytoskeleton and function in cell shape modulation. Cell. 2003; 113: 37-47). Specifically, Mig-2 has been shown to participate in the connection between cell matrix adhesions and the actin cytoskeleton as well as to modulate cell shape (Tu Y, Wu S, Shi X, Chen K, and Wu C. Migfilin and mig-2 link focal adhesions to filamin and the actin cytoskeleton and function in cell shape modulation. Cell. 2003; 113: 37-47). Recent studies have indicated that ILK serves as a mediator in integrin mediated signal transduction (Wu C. Integrin-linked kinase and pinch: Partners in regulation of cell-extracellular matrix interaction and signal transduction. Journal of Cell Science. 1999; 112 (Pt 24): 4485-9). Furthermore, both Mig-2 and ILK are required for maintaining focal adhesions (Nikolopoulos S N and Turner C E. Integrin-linked kinase (ilk) binding to paxillin 1d1 motif regulates ilk localization to focal adhesions. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2001; 276(26): 23499-505 and Tu Y, Wu S, Shi X, Chen K, and Wu C. Migfilin and mig-2 link focal adhesions to filamin and the actin cytoskeleton and function in cell shape modulation. Cell. 2003; 113: 37-47). By examining the changes in the levels of TN-C, TSP, SPARC, Mig-2, and ILK, we believe that we will be able to make conclusions about the state of adhesion of SMCs within the vein segments. A schematic showing the intracellular localization of TN-C, TSP, SPARC, Mig-2 and ILK is shown in FIG. 2.
A prerequisite for SMC migration in vivo is degradation of surrounding matrix proteins. Matrix metalloproteinases (specifically, MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9) can selectively degrade various components of the vascular ECM (Galis Z S, Muszynski M, Sukhova G K, Simon_Morrissey E, Unemori E N, Lark M W, Amento E, and Libby P. Cytokine-stimulated human vascular smooth muscle cells synthesize a complement of enzymes required for extracellular matrix digestion. Circulation Research (Online) 1994; 75(1): 181-9; Newby A C, Southgate K M, and Davies M G. Extracellular matrix degrading metalloproteinases in the pathogensis of arteriosclerosis. Basic Res Cardiol. 1994; 89(Suppl 1): 59-70; Porter K E, Naik J, Turner N A, Dickison T, Thompson M M, and London J M. Simvastatin inhibits human saphenous vein neointima formation via inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. J. Vasc. Surg. 2002; 36: 150-7; and Southgate K M, Davies M, Booth R F, and Newby A C. Involvement of extracellular-matrix-degrading metalloproteinases in rabbit aortic smooth-muscle cell proliferation. Biochem J. 1992; 288 (Pt 1): 93-9). MMPs have been shown to be critical for the development of arterial lesions by regulating SMC migration. The balance between MMPs, their activator (MT-1 MMP) (Lafleur M A, Hollenberg M D, Atkinson S J, Knauper V, Murphy G, and Edwards D R. Activation of pro-(matrix metalloproteinase-2) (pro-mmp-2) by thrombin is membrane-type-mmp-dependent in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and generates a distinct 63 kda active species. Biochem J. 2001; 357(Pt 1): 107-15), and their inhibitors (specifically, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, TIMP-3, and TIMP-4) determines the level of ECM degradation (Meng X, Mavromatis K, and Galis Z S. Mechanical stretching of human saphenous vein grafts induces expression and activation of matrix-degrading enzymes associated with vascular tissue injury and repair. Exp Mol. Pathol. 1999; 66(3): 227-37). Numerous studies have shown that MMPs and TIMPs play a significant role in the early stages of IH in response to altered hemodynamics and vascular injury (George S J, Baker A H, Angelini G D, and Newby A C. Gene transfer of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 inhibits metalloproteinase activity and neointima formation in human saphenous veins. Gene Ther. 1998; 5(11): 1552-60; George S J, Johnson J L, Angelini G D, Newby A C, and Baker A H. Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of the human TIMP-1 gene inhibits smooth muscle cell migration and neointimal formation in human saphenous vein. Hum Gene Ther. 1998; 9(6): 867-77; and Lijnen H R, Soloway P, and Collen D. Tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 impairs arterial neointima formation after vascular injury in mice. Circ Res. 1999; 85(12): 1186-91). For example, after 6 hours of ex vivo perfusion with arterial hemodynamics, expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was increased in human saphenous veins (Mavromatis K, Fukai T, Tate M, Chesler N, Ku D N, and Galis Z S. Early effects of arterial hemodynamic conditions on human saphenous veins perfused ex vivo. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2000; 20(8): 1889-95). Other organ culture studies of human saphenous vein have shown increased production of MMP-9 and increased activation of MMP-2 (Porter K E, Thompson M M, Loftus 1M, McDermott E, Jones L, Crowther M, Bell P R, and London N J. Production and inhibition of the gelatinolytic matrix metalloproteinases in a human model of vein graft stenosis. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 1999; 17(5): 404-12; Porter K E, Naik J, Turner N A, Dickison T, Thompson M M, and London J M. Simvastatin inhibits human saphenous vein neointima formation via inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. J. Vasc. Surg. 2002; 36: 150-7; and George S J, Zaltsman A B, and Newby A C. Surgical preparative injury and neointima formation increase MMP-9 expression and MMP-2 activation in human saphenous vein. Cardiovasc Res. 1997; 33(2): 447-59) under arterial conditions. Broad spectrum MMP inhibitors such as simvastatin have been shown to inhibit neointima formation in this model (Porter K E, Naik J, Turner N A, Dickison T, Thompson M M, and London J M. Simvastatin inhibits human saphenous vein neointima formation via inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. J. Vasc. Surg. 2002; 36: 150-7 and Porter K E, Loftus I M, Peterson M, Bell P R, London N J, and Thompson M M. Marimastat inhibits neointimal thickening in a model of human vein graft stenosis. Br J. Surg. 1998; 85(10): 1373-7).
Mechanical forces can influence SMC de-adhesion and migration by directly regulating the above factors. For example, MMP-1 expression is increased in venous SMCs exposed to pulse pressure compared to static controls (Redmond E M, Cahill P A, Hirsch M, Wang Y N, Sitzmann J V, and Okada S S. Effect of pulse pressure on vascular smooth muscle cell migration: The role of urokinase and matrix metalloproteinase. Thrombosis & Haemostasis. 1999; 81(2): 293-300), while MMP-2 mRNA levels are increased in mouse SMCs exposed to cyclic stretch (Grote K, Flach I, Luchtefeld M, Akin E, Holland S M, Drexler H, and Schieffer B. Mechanical stretch enhances mRNA expression and proenzyme release of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) via nad(p)h oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species. Circulation Research. 2003; 92(11): 80-6). In cultured SMCs from human saphenous vein, MMP-2 and MMP-9 transcript and protein levels increased when exposed to uniaxial stationary strain, but decreased when exposed to uniaxial cyclic strain (Asanuma K, Magid R, Johnson C, Nerem R M, and Galis Z S. Uniaxial strain upregulates matrix-degrading enzymes produced by human vascular smooth muscle cells. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2003; 284(5): H1778-84). Cyclic strain of fibroblasts has been shown to increase MT-1 MMP levels (Tyagi S C, Lewis K, Pikes D, Marcello A, Mujumdar V S, Smiley L M, and Moore C K. Stretch-induced membrane type matrix metalloproteinase and tissue plasminogen activator in cardiac fibroblast cells. J Cell Physiol. 1998; 176(2): 374-82)[166] and decrease TIMP-1 levels (Yamaoka A, Matsuo T, Shiraga F, and Ohtsuki H. Timp-1 production by human scleral fibroblast decreases in response to cyclic mechanical stretching. Opthalmic Research. 2001; 33(2): 98-101). In addition, SMC migration was shown to be regulated by shear stress induced EC signaling (Bassiouny H S, Song R H, Kocharyan H, Kins E, and Glagov S. Low flow enhances platelet activation after acute experimental arterial injury. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 1998; 27(5): 910-8; Nakazawa T, Yasuhara H, Shigematsu K, and Shigematsu H. Smooth muscle cell migration induced by shear-loaded platelets and endothelial cells. Enhanced platelet-derived growth factor production by shear-loaded platelets. Int Angiol. 2000; 19(2): 142-6; Powell R J, Carruth J A, Basson M D, Bloodgood R, and Sumpio B E. Matrix-specific effect of endothelial control of smooth muscle cell migration. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 1996; 24(1): 51-7; and Shigematsu K, Yasuhara H, Shigematsu H, and Muto T. Direct and indirect effects of pulsatile shear stress on the smooth muscle cell. Int Angiol. 2000; 19(1): 39-46). Mechanical forces can influence SMC de-adhesion and migration by directly regulating the above factors. SMC migration was shown to be regulated by shear stress induced EC signaling (Garanich J S, Pahakis M, and Tarbell J M. Shear stress inhibits smooth muscle cell migration via nitric oxide-mediated downregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2005; 288(5): H2244-52; Bassiouny H S, Song R H, Kocharyan H, Kins E, and Glagov S. Low flow enhances platelet activation after acute experimental arterial injury. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 1998; 27(5): 910-8; Nakazawa T, Yasuhara H, Shigematsu K, and Shigematsu H. Smooth muscle cell migration induced by shear-loaded platelets and endothelial cells. Enhanced platelet-derived growth factor production by shear-loaded platelets. Int Angiol. 2000; 19(2): 142-6; Powell R J, Carruth J A, Basson M D, Bloodgood R, and Sumpio B E. Matrix-specific effect of endothelial control of smooth muscle cell migration. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 1996; 24(1): 51-7; Shigematsu K, Yasuhara H, Shigematsu H, and Muto T. Direct and indirect effects of pulsatile shear stress on the smooth muscle cell. Int Angiol. 2000; 19(1): 39-46; and Sho M, Sho E, Singh T M, Komatsu M, Sugita A, Xu C, Nanjo H, Zarins C K, and Masuda H. Subnormal shear stress-induced intimal thickening requires medial smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. Exp Mol. Pathol. 2002; 72(2): 150-60).
Proliferation
Several growth factors have been implicated as key components in the hyperplastic response of vein grafts. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) appears to be of particular importance. For example, Wolf et al. demonstrated that systemic administration of antibodies against TGF-β significantly reduced the development of IH in a rat model (Wolf Y G, Rasmussen L M, and Ruoslahti E. Antibodies against transforming growth factor-beta 1 suppress intimal hyperplasia in a rat model. J Clin Invest. 1994; 93(3): 1172-8). Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) also appear to be primary factors involved in IH associated SMC proliferation. For example, PDGF causes a dose dependent proliferation response in cultured SMCs (Uzui H, Lee J D, Shimizu H, Tsutani H, and Ueda T. The role of protein-tyrosine phosphorylation and gelatinase production in the migration and proliferation of smooth muscle cells. Atherosclerosis. 2000; 149(1): 51-9), while TGF-β inhibits proliferation (Mii S, Ware J A, and Kent K C. Transforming growth factor-beta inhibits human vascular smooth muscle cell growth and migration. Surgery. 1993; 114(2): 464-70). bFGF released from dead and damaged cells of autologous vein grafts promotes SMC proliferation (Qian H, Zhang B, and Zhao H. [gene expression of bfgf and intimal hyperplasia of autologous vein grafts in rats]. Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 1996; 76(11): 826-8). mRNA levels of PDGF transcripts as well as numbers of proliferating cells were found to be highest in the neointima of porcine vein grafts (Francis S E, Hunter S, Holt C M, Gadsdon P A, Rogers S, Duff G W, Newby A C, and Angelini G D. Release of platelet-derived growth factor activity from pig venous arterial grafts. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1994; 108(3): 540-8). While growth factors clearly play a role in IH, MMPs have also been shown to be critical for the development of arterial lesions by regulating SMC proliferation (Southgate K M, Davies M, Booth R F, and Newby A C. Involvement of extracellular-matrix-degrading metalloproteinases in rabbit aortic smooth-muscle cell proliferation. Biochem J. 1992; 288 (Pt 1): 93-9; Cho A and Reidy M A. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 is necessary for the regulation of smooth muscle cell replication and migration after arterial injury. Circ Res. 2002; 91(9): 845-51), while TIMPs have been shown to promote apoptosis of SMC (Annabi B, Shedid D, Ghosn P, Kenigsberg R L, Desrosiers R R, Bojanowski M W, Beaulieu E, Nassif E, Moumdjian R, and Beliveau R. Differential regulation of matrix metalloproteinase activities in abdominal aortic aneurysms. J Vasc Surg. 2002; 35(3): 539-46).
IH has been shown to be associated with increases in SMC proliferation and both increases and decreases in apoptosis. It may seem counter-intuitive that an increase in intimal apoptosis is associated with IH, a condition associated with increased cell numbers. However, it must be kept in mind that increases in cell number is but a singular event in the balance that regulates IH. That is, though there may be an absolute increase in apoptosis, a greater increase in cell proliferation would result in a net increase in cell number. For these reasons, it is important to evaluate both sides of the balance (i.e., both promoting and inhibiting factors) when assessing proliferation.
Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin in situ nick end labeling (TUNEL) have been used to label proliferating and apoptotic cells, respectively, within intact AVGs, both in vivo (Nishibe T, Miyazaki K, Kudo F, Flores J, Nagato M, Kumada T, and Yasuda K. Induction of angiotensin converting enzyme in neointima after intravascular stent placement. Int Angiol. 2002; 21(3): 250-5), and in vitro (Zuckerbraun B S, McCloskey C A, Mahidhara R S, Kim P K, Taylor B S, and Tzeng E. Overexpression of mutated ikappabalpha inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and intimal hyperplasia formation. J Vasc Surg. 2003; 38(4): 812-9). Cell proliferation and apoptosis are simultaneous processes that occur within the adventitia and media of the vein during the first week following grafting, however this balance is thereafter disrupted with proliferation rates increasing over rates of apoptosis (Nishibe T, Miyazaki K, Kudo F, Flores J, Nagato M, Kumada T, and Yasuda K. Induction of angiotensin converting enzyme in neointima after intravascular stent placement. Int Angiol. 2002; 21(3): 250-5). The level of proliferation within the media and neointima of stenosed aortocoronary bypass grafts excised upon re-operation has been shown to be significantly higher than non-stenosed controls (Hilker M, Buerke M, Lehr H A, Oelert H, and Hake U. Bypass graft disease: Analysis of proliferative activity in human aorto-coronary bypass grafts. 2002; 5 Suppl 4: S331-41).
Increased wall stress has been associated with AVG IH, and this may be a direct result of a mechanical regulation of SMC proliferation, and apoptosis. For example, venous SMCs have been shown to increase their proliferation compared to arterial SMCs when exposed to arterial levels of cyclic stretch (Predel H G, Yang Z, von_Segesser L, Turina M, Buhler F R, and Luscher T F. Implications of pulsatile stretch on growth of saphenous vein and mammary artery smooth muscle. Lancet. 1992; 340(8824): 878-9 and Dethlefsen S M, Shepro D, and D'Amore P A. Comparison of the effects of mechanical stimulation on venous and arterial smooth muscle cells in vitro. J Vasc Res. 1996; 33(5): 405-13). Liu et al. showed via bromodeoxyuridine staining and TUNEL analysis that mechanical stretch due to arterial hemodynamics induces cell death, which possibly mediates subsequent cell proliferation in a rat AVG model (Liu B, Itoh H, Louie O, Kubota K, and Kent K C. The signaling protein rho is necessary for vascular smooth muscle migration and survival but not for proliferation. Surgery. 2002; 132(2): 317-25). Predel et al. showed that pulsatile stretch stimulates SMC proliferation in saphenous veins, but not internal mammary arteries, and may contribute to venous bypass graft disease (Predel H G, Yang Z, von_Segesser L, Turina M, Buhler F R, and Luscher T F. Implications of pulsatile stretch on growth of saphenous vein and mammary artery smooth muscle. Lancet. 1992; 340(8824): 878-9). When veins are transposed to the arterial circulation they undergo an increase of luminal shear stress in addition to intramural stress. Indeed it has been shown that a combination of increased shear stress and cyclic stretch imposed on cultured SMCs activates PDGF receptor alpha (Hu Y, Bock G, Wick G, and Xu Q. Activation of pdgf receptor alpha in vascular smooth muscle cells by mechanical stress. Faseb J. 1998; 12(12): 1135-42)[192].
Remodeling
Vascular remodeling typically refers to a change in the morphology or microstructure of a blood vessel in response to changes in the biomechanical environment. It is believed that this occurs as an attempt by the tissue to restore biomechanical homeostasis (i.e., to return to normal levels of shear and wall stress). In the case of AVGs, IH is a pathological form of remodeling that includes increased intimal thickness caused by SMC migration and proliferation, increased intimal apoptosis, sclerosis of the intima and media due to increased ECM deposition, and hypertrophy of the medial and adventitial SMCs.
Vascular cells produce the ECM components such as collagen and elastin. The phenotypic modulation of SMCs associated with vein grafting has been shown to alter ECM synthesis characterized by increasing collagen type I and elastin production. Veins used as arterial bypass grafts undergo an alteration of their ECM components, which can result in a loss of lumenal area and eventual occlusion. An alteration in matrix synthesis directly leads to increased collagen content in the hyperplastic neointima during the first week after injury resulting from balloon angioplasty. In addition, AVGs that undergo this hyperplastic remodeling exhibit decreased compliance as compared to fresh veins, which can contribute to their failure.